


Words for Your Companions: Five Vignettes of Walter Blythe

by ineptshieldmaid



Category: Anne of Ingleside - L. M. Montgomery, L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables series, Rainbow Valley - L. M. Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside - L. M. Montgomery
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-27
Updated: 2008-09-27
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineptshieldmaid/pseuds/ineptshieldmaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't consider your standing in the Glen school to be worth anyone's blows (not yours and not Jem's and not even Bertie Shakespeare's), but you continue to feel a stubborn sort of pride. What does it matter if the Glen boys think you a sissy, as long you have Jem for a comrade and ally?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words for Your Companions: Five Vignettes of Walter Blythe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kayloulee](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kayloulee).



1\. Honour

_When you're very young, you don't realise that some things are shameful. Oh, you know, when they first call you 'sissy Blythe', that you are somehow cut down, made less. But you don't quite know why, and you don't know by what standard you are failing._

And so when Jem comes to your rescue, barrels into the middle of them, and declares 'You can't call him that,' and 'you shan't call him that,' and 'you'll have to go through me first!', you pull yourself up straight and proud. This is your brother, your Jem, with his tangled mop of red hair, and even the big boys pause for a moment when he has that determined look in his hazel eyes. You don't realise, although you wish they hadn't come to blows over it, that it's supposed to be shameful. This is Jem, after all, who always tests a thing thoroughly before he believes it, and if he believes you're not a sissy, then you aren't.

It is only later- not immediately after, but quite some time, days perhaps or even weeks- that you realise you were supposed to fight your own fights. And although they leave you alone, after a few weeks and a few encounters with Jem's fists; although you earn something like respect for your 'book-talking', you know well enough that it is Jem who upholds your honour. You don't consider your standing in the Glen school to be worth anyone's blows (not yours and not Jem's and not even Bertie Shakespeare's), but you continue to feel a stubborn sort of pride. What does it matter if the Glen boys think you a sissy, as long you have Jem for a comrade and ally?

 

* * *

 

2\. Teller of Tales

Behind the maple grove which lies between the Glen St Mary pond and the big Blythe house, there lies a fey, misty kingdom. Its palaces are green hollows and woodsy nooks; its citizens are the fairies and tree-spirits; but the Blythe children are its court and chivalry. It has its fair ladies- the twins Nan and Di, who have been subjected to numerous perils in order to be properly rescued, and who preside over their brothers with a quiet authority which no one has dared yet to question. It has its stout adventurer - it is Jem Blythe who procures pot-lids for shields, hats for pirates and feathers for Red Indians.

While Jem Blythe is undisputed champion of the little court in the Hollow, it has its bard and conjuror in Walter. A faithful squire in all Jem's quests, first mate in every raid, plucky sidekick in every battle, but these are not the roles for which the little realm knows him. When Jem comes down the hill with a pirate's hat perched jauntily on his curly head, it is Walter who dubs him Red Jim the Fearsome; it is Walter who dreams up adventures and quests and victories. Here, on Blythe territory, the Glen boys know better than to scorn 'sissy' Blythe, though he can be rather queer at times. A fellow doesn't need to sound like something out of a book to have a ripping game- but then, there was something fine about being Admiral Shakespeare Drew the Gallant, Defender of the Seven Seas.

It is Walter who gives the little kingdom its name: Rainbow Valley.

 

* * *

 

3\. Court

Court has reconvened in Rainbow Valley after a long hiatus. There is Jem, giving directions and taking his place at the head of the table. There is Nan, who lays the table as carefully as for any prince's supper. There is Walter, who drinks in the sights and the unseens of their little realm as if they bear some message for him alone.

'It's your turn to say grace,' Nan declares.

'Let Walter say it. He _likes_ saying grace.' Jem concedes to Walter his due: the right to mark their homecoming with some sort of ritual, albeit with the appended stipulation that it be short, due to the demands of appetite.

The words are never spoken; the unity of the little court is left unsealed. Here is Di, ever the hostess, going forward to greet the newcomers. Merry was the feast and long, and thenceforth there were four more places at the banquet board of Rainbow Valley.

 

* * *

 

4\. Dreamer of Dreams

 

Walter lies with his hands behind his head, dappled in sunlight and shade. Jem, on one side of him, is mending fishing lines, while Di, on the other, is gazing at the sky and listening as Walter spins tales. Knights and ladies, dragons and marvels, tournaments and quests. The fellowship of the Round Table, a band of heroes bound by oaths and brotherhood; the Quest of the Holy Grail; the final and terrible war to tear them all apart.

'Hullo,' Di interrupts. 'What's going on?' There are figures tearing down the slope- Jerry Meredith and Bertie Shakespeare, with Carl and Faith in tow and Una lagging behind.

Jerry is shouting down the slope to Jem- some of the Glen boys have got into a fight with the boys from the Harbour Mouth, there's going to be a proper fight, it's due to start at any minute, and did Jem want to come down and watch? The honour of the Glen is at stake, and Jem is on his feet in moments.

'Walter?' Jem glances over his shoulder as he turns up the hill. Walter merely shakes his head, and Una breaks away from her siblings to take Jem's place, curling up neatly on the grass at Walter's side. He weaves tales again- of Guinevere and Lancelot, of Tristan and Isolde, and of the fair and desolate Lady of Shalott who loved in vain.

 

* * *

 

5\. Courage.

_When you are very young, you don't realise that some things are shameful, but you learn. You win one schoolyard fight, and you think you have established something. There is a little fear in their eyes, now, and you have earnt your right to a quiet corner of the schoolyard in which to read alone. You have earnt that spark of pride in Mr Meredith's eyes, and that is worth more than the respect of the Glen boys and the peace of your little nook put together._

When you are young, you think that shame can be vanquished once and never seen again, but you learn otherwise. The old insults will come around again: Miss Walter, coward, milksop, and other slurs too. This time, there is no Jem to defend you. There is not even disappointment in his eyes, as if he knew already what to expect.

The Piper calls, and Jem and Jerry answer at once, comrades and brothers in arms. You go about your life with words for your companions. Coward, which you can recount to your sisters, can own and acknowledge, and other slurs which you cannot.

When you go, you go alone, with words for your companions. You go, not to prove what you are not, but because the Piper does not care what you are, if you only answer the call.


End file.
